Page 58 of Neighbors With Benefits

Watching him on his hands and knees, head bent low, an intrusive thought wedged its way into my mind. I imagined threading my fingers into his thick blond hair, holding him against me while his tongue…

“I can’t thank you enough,” I said to distract myself from my dirty thoughts. “This is a lot more involved than painting a room.”

“The quote you got from that contractor was ridiculous,” he replied without looking up. “It would be criminally negligent of me to let you hire someone. We replaced the tile in two of our bathrooms last year, so I know what I’m doing.”

“I need to find a way to repay you,” I said.

His hand paused on the tile for a moment. “I’m listening.”

Shit. Had I allowed my dirty thoughts to trickle into my tone? To defuse the situation, I said, “I can’t give too much away, but as a manager I can set up some complimentary parties at Top Golf. You could bring everyone from work.”

Bash glanced up at me, blue eyes sparkling. “Hell yeah. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to know I had an innocent way to repay all of the favors he was doing.

Although the less-innocent way sounded more fun.

“I have some bad news,” Bash said, glancing at his watch. “This took longer than I expected. I’ve got to be somewhere in an hour, so I’ll have to finish it up tomorrow. Sorry for leaving you with a torn-up bathroom.”

“It’s okay!” I replied, standing. “I can use the guest bathroom.”

Bash rose and stretched. “I’ll be back to finish it first thing in the morning, I promise.”

“I trust you. Plus, I know where you live. If you drag this out too long, I can threaten to light your plants on fire!”

He glared while taking the toolbox from me. “Ouch. Threatening plant arson after I spent all morning installing your tile.”

“I didn’t threaten anything,” I replied with the preciseness of an attorney. “Ithreatenedto threaten to light your plants on fire. Important distinction.”

“I’ll allow it.” He extended a hand toward me. “Careful. Step right in front of that tile, then you should be able to jump across the rest of the tile. If you fall, I’ll have to redo all this work.”

I took his hand and followed his instructions, placing my foot where he told me and then leaping across the four-foot gap. He used his other arm to slow my momentum. The physical contact was brief, but still created a pleasant warm feeling in my chest.

“Where are you going in an hour?” I asked. “Got a hot date?”

“Nothing that exciting,” he replied with a smirk. “I’ve got a Pickleball match.”

“Oh, cool,” I replied. “I’ve heard of Pickleball, but I’ve never played.”

His eyes widened. “You’ve never played Pickleball? Seriously?”

“Calm down,” I teased. “It’s not like I said I was a virgin or something.”

“You’re a Pickleball virgin, which is even more shocking,” he said. “Aiden and I play all the time. We’re kind of hardcore about it.”

“You’ll have to show me how to play sometime,” I said while we walked out of my bedroom.

“How about Tuesday?” he immediately offered. “We could do that instead of playing Candyland.”

“Yeah,” I said. “That sounds great.”

I met Bash there after work on Tuesday. The courts, eight of them, were outside underneath a massive tent. Next to it was an actual building with a check-in desk, a bar, and a restaurant.Bash was waiting inside, and I immediately busted out laughing when I saw him.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

I gestured at him. “Your outfit.” He was wearing calf-length socks, short shorts, a tank top, and a headband, all of which were varying neon colors. “You look like you were teleported here from a 1980s fitness infomercial!”

Bash put a hand across his chest and bowed. “That’s the best compliment you could have given me, because it’s the look Aiden and I try to channel. If you’re taking yourself too seriously, then you’re doing Pickleball wrong.”

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